Escape The Castle (Starco Fanfic, Yo)
by lazersfanfics
Summary: This is an alternate ending for the season one finale for SVTFOE, where Marco somehow escaped Toffee and the castle. Be prepared for a lot of drama, suspense, and Starco, yo. Updates will come by popular request, or just whenever I don't have a busy schedule.
1. Capítulo Uno

Marco wasn't sure how he did it, but he ran.

Marco escaped the clutches of Toffee and ran as far as he could, away from the castle. He was able to fight off the monsters with only one or two scratches on him. Once he saw that no one was blocking the entrance, that was his getaway. So he ran so far away, into the woods that looked similar to the forest of certain death, but with taller trees and longer tree roots. Toffee and his crew of monsters proceeded to follow him, but were way behind on his trails.

From the distance, he heard Toffee screaming, "Find Marco and bring him alive! If you just so happen to kill him, I would do the same to you!"

Marco is still running for his life. If he could possible run a bit faster, he could be able to get to the town of Mewni and call for help. It's the only way he could go back to Earth. To go see his family. To go see Star.

He turned back to see if the monsters are still chasing him. They still are, no question about it, but they weren't even close to capturing him. With no attention whatsoever, Marco tripped over a long tree root and landed hard on some branches. He moaned in pain as a little bit of blood was dripping out of his forehead. He might have sprained his ankle during that fall as well, for he couldn't pull himself out of the ground.

During that time when he was on the ground, however, he noticed something different from the distance. The shadows in the dark were slowly fading away. The monsters gave up on him. They were no longer hunting Marco.

Marco was relieved. He was in pain, due to his slightly bleeding forehead and his sprained ankle, but he felt safe. Safe from the jaws of defeat, for a moment, at least. He knew he had to keep pushing on, but his current condition won't even get him out of the forest. That's when he noticed two logs out in the woods. It was quite odd that two logs were out here in the middle of the woods, he thought to himself, but he had no choice but to stay the night with it.

So, with survival skills learned from a fanny pack, Marco set up a fire using the branches he landed on and sat on top of one of the logs, making sure the fire doesn't go out. Had he still wore his red hoodie and brought a flashlight with him, he wouldn't really need to set up a fire. But, with the Mewni weather breeze being as cold as one of Star's frosty spells, Marco had no other options.

With a long branch he snapped from a tree, he moved the sticks along. He was feeling a bit sleepy, so he would hope that keeping the fire alive from time to time would help keep him awake. Not only that, but he was hoping for someone to rescue him. It doesn't matter who was going to save him, as long as it wasn't another monster putting him back inside the cage. All he cared about during his escape was to get back to Earth. To return back to his parents. To look at his friends again.

To see Star one more time.

He thought back to the argument. He thought, with all of those screwed-up adventures, him and Star would've been in Death Row. He wanted to be mad at her. He really did. But he just couldn't bring himself to it. He loved the adrenaline. He loved cheating death with a princess from another dimension. He loved all those hugs those two shared. And the most shocking truth of all: he loved her as more than just a friend.

Marco gazed up at the sky. The doubts of a rescue team raised even higher. He grows tired and tired, but he still wants to believe he's going to get help. He tried to get comfortable on the log while keeping the fire up, for it is still cold in the woods. His mind is starting to go blank, for all he wants now is a little bit of sleep.

"Please find me," he whispered, as he finally shut his eyelids.


	2. Capítulo Dos

Star had arrived in the castle. She was hoping she would do this alone, but given her current situation, Star had no choice but to bring Ludo and Buff Frog. Ludo didn't capture Marco, but a guy by the name of Toffee did. And she can't help but feel guilty about it.

She brushed that thought aside. The only thing that mattered right now was to bring him back. She slightly opened the door to the castle and casted a smoke spell inside. Within seconds, the three of them broke inside, but to their surprise, there was no one to surround them. Not a single monster within sight, not even near the smoke.

"Is this... do they already know we're here?" Ludo asked nervously.

"No," Buff Frog replied. "It not possible. It gives opportunity to us."

"You make a good point," Star agreed. "If whoever you said was so dangerous, we have to get Marco out of here before he comes back. And Ludo, keep your distance, creep."

The three of them looked through a decent part of the castle. They ended up regrouping at the dining table once they did their searching. Star was disappointed to hear that they had found absolutely nothing. No monsters, no Marco, nothing. It was as if the hallways of Echo Creek High School was empty of everything.

"That guy must've hid him somewhere," Star said. "He has to be really good at hiding stuff. I'm sure of it. We still got a lot more rooms to go, so let's hurry and find find him before-"

"You made it," a mysterious voice said from behind.

Without hesitation, Star turned around and aimed at that mysterious voice. It just so happened to be Toffee talking to her, with a white button shirt and a red stainless tie. She was ever so close to shooting him right now, but he showed no fear, as if he already accepted his fate and began anew.

As she lowered down her weapon, Toffee walked to a seat in the table and announced, "I do humbly apologize for arriving so late. I'm sure none of you are used to having the guests arrive before the host, but as you can see, we can now begin."

Tiny amounts of rage flowed into Star. Her grip on the wand was tighter than before. Something devious is going on with him, and she doesn't like that feeling one bit. However, at the same time, she feels as if he is expecting this. In this game between them, she's not so sure who has the upper hand. The last thing she wants to happen is to be outmatched.

"Now, Star," he continued, as dinner plates between him and her were set down, "could you please be a dear and have a seat on the chair?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I am not following your orders unless you hand me back-"

"We can talk about Marco in due time. It just won't happen if you don't take a seat."

"He's totally playing me," Star said to herself. "I can't let him do this, but it's the only way..."

Star finally came to her senses and agreed to sit on the chair. However, she wanted Toffee to get Ludo away from this conversation, in case he tried to interfere with the process. Toffee humbly accepted her offer and asked his monsters to move him into the glass chamber. On the other hand, Buff Frog stayed near the entrance of the dining room, not only guarding the princess, but his new tadpoles as well.

"Now, where were we?" Toffee asked.

"You give me back Marco in exchange for a butt kicking," Star proclaimed.

"Oh, I would hate to inform you this, but Marco is not here."

"Whhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

"SURPRISE."

"But he has to be here," Star exclaimed, confused with her current situation. "I don't know anybody else who took him. And Ludo clearly wasn't responsible for this."

"If you want the truth, here it is," Toffee answered. "Yes, I did capture Marco. But, to my surprise, Marco escaped from that same glass chamber that Ludo is in right now. Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Star became more impatient and furious than ever. His twisted words added fuel to a burning comet that is aiming towards his head. This game between them is coming to a very close end. It was time for her to pull a divine move.

"This isn't the truth," she announced as stood on top of the table. "You're lying."

"Star," he replied with a straight face, "I would strongly advise you to sit back down."

"I'm not taking anything you're saying! You're lying! YOU'RE LYING!"

Star aimed at her target and shot Toffee's arm right off. The powerful blast knocked him out of his seat and lying down like a dog on the floor. No one was quite sure if he was still alive, but everyone was left in shock and awe.

"I'm not going to stop until I find Marco back!" Star shouted. "And I'm not going to let any one of you stop me!"

She ran and leaped out of the table, only to drop into 2 or 3 monsters. Regardless, Star fought them out without a spell casted from her wand. Buff Frog also helped her out by beating them up into smushed monster blood. With his aid, she continued to search throughout every single place in the castle. Even though monsters were still in the way, her wand fended them off and brought them back to Buff Frog, pummeling them once more.

The searching took half an hour, but Star ended up empty-handed ran to every room, fought every monster that dared to lay a finger on her, but all of it was for nothing. And here she was, back near the dining table, feeling as if the panic button on the back of her head has been slammed.

She turned around to see Toffee's good arm hanging onto the table. He was sluggish at first, but he was able to lift himself back up. Then, to her surprise, Toffee's arm was able to regenerate, and the arm functioned properly, as if he barely got a scratch on him.

"Now," Toffee asked in a weakened tone, "shall we continue our conversation?"

Star angrily replied, "You're hiding him somewhere! You just don't want to spill it!"

"I am not hiding him anymore. Marco escaped."

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

"I highly doubt it, but it depends on how bad you want this kid."

Star paused for a minute before she could continue her rage. To her, it was more than trying to save him. It was more than trying to apologize from that huge fight they had over a sandwich. It was trying not to lose him permanently. It was trying to protect the most important person she'd ever had.

It was trying to hold him tight and never letting him go.

She came back to her senses and told him, "Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Sadly, no," Toffee replied. "Marco could be anywhere right now."

"I don't plan on hurting you again."

"And I'm counting on it, but direct threats will only waste time on finding him."

"You were the last to see him."

"A fact indeed, but I was unable to get a clear view. I humbly apologize."

Star was tempted to shoot Toffee once again. Nevertheless, the man showed no fear, given he regenerated his arm after receiving such a blast. She refused to fire another blast, in the fact that wasting any more time with him will cost more on trying to find Marco. Instead, she walked away from the castle, as no one, not even Ludo of Buff Frog, tried to stop her path to the exit.

As she reached the doors, she slammed a fist on the wall. Her boiling point has been reached, but the same time, she didn't want to lose hope on Marco. It took a while for her, but after her little outburst, she managed to cal down and slowly opened the exit.

"I'm sorry, Marco," Star whispered to herself. "I was too late..."


	3. Capítulo Tres

"Marco! Marco!"

Marco started to hear voices coming. It sounded familiar to him, but he was unable to make it out, for he is still asleep. A part of him was tempted to see if the rescue party had shown up, but another part wanted to sleep his troubles away. Speculation of the monsters popped in as well. Whichever side he was on, it was a nightmare for him to choose.

The voices got closer and closer. Soon, the person that called his name breached into his little base, looking over him like a giant. The person got down to where he was sleeping and tried to wake him up. It shook him back and forth, causing a war between living inside a nightmare or waking up to a threat.

Accepting his fate, Marco finally woke up from the shakiness. However, that person posed as no threat. It just so happened to be Star.

"Star...?" he mentioned in his restless tone.

"Marco!" she happily replied. "You're ok!"

"I'm fine. How'd you find me?"

"Like that really matters! I'm just glad I found you!"

The two of them hugged once more, as the two of them got reunited once more. After their hug, however, they looked at each other's eyes. Both their minds went blank, but they felt like they were seeing the entire universe inside of them. Suddenly, Marco leaned in and kissed her right in the lips. Granted, it caught them by surprise, for they had been friends for a long time, but none of that mattered for a single minute.

It was uncertain on how long they kissed, but it felt like they were completely locked for eternity. Unfortunately, when the kiss ended, Star was grabbed by a monster behind her back. The fact that she was held against her will shocked Marco down to the core.

"Sttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaar!" he yelled.

The monster did not come alone. Within seconds, he was pinned down to the ground by another monster. Both Star and Marco were left defenseless, making them fall to evil's willpower.

Toffee was next to appear to the base, along with the rest of the monsters. He flashed a grin on his face; the cards were set to his liking, and no one could easily challenge him. Marco didn't want to appear scared to all of them, but deep down, he feared that this would be the end of him.

"Such a shame..." Toffee said to him. "It looks like this act is near its end."

He ordered the monster pinning Marco to put him close to the fire. The monster then pulled his hair up, letting him see his final credits. He tried everything he could to get away from the fire, but the pin holding him was screwed tightly, inching closer and closer to death.

Toffee got closer to Marco and took the duties of holding his head. With a raging fire to his tone, he said to him, "Now we get to see your punishment!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Marco woke up quick. He got off from the log he was sleeping on, but he accidentally placed his right hand on the fire, which was still burning despite the cold Mewni breeze. He screamed from the burn, but tried to shake it off.

"Ow..." he said to himself. "That was some messed up dream I had..."

He looked at his right hand. There were no significant burns in his palm or fingers. However, there was a mark that's on his hand. It looked like a paw from a strange monster, but none of which he is familiar with. It was small, but the mark was extremely noticeable.

This mark isn't news to him. In fact, he noticed this mark once his tentacle arm was long gone. He can't imagine what the purpose of the mark was, but it could only lead to no good. Had he cared enough about the mysterious mark, he would go get some help about it.

Marco stopped looking at his hand and got his butt off the ground. Doing a quick test for himself, he recognized that his ankle is still sprained. His head is fine, but his recent dream would probably haunt him every chance he close his eyes.

He gazed up into the sky. It wasn't as dark as it was when he was escaping the castle, so signs point to the morning in Mewni. There weren't as many clouds in Mewni's sky compared to Earth, but the shapes they made felt like he was back home. After he looked up into the sky, he turned around and saw a village with a castle that was sky high. Even though that place was miles away from his reach, it called out to him like a moth drawn to a flame

"The Mewni Kingdom," he said to himself. "My only ticket out."

Marco was tempted to grab the long stick he used for the fire last night, but he feared that the charcoal from the bottom of it would not bode well as a walking stick. The thought of putting the fire out was also in consideration, but judging by his freakish dream, he felt it was best for him to keep the fire going. So Marco grabbed a new stick out from another tree branch to assist his weak ankle.

Unfortunately, he sat on the log he slept on to think this through. "Do I really need to go?" he asked himself. "Am I going to wait out here, for a miracle out of nowhere to save me from the demons that eat me whole?

"Is Star... Is Star going to save me again?"

Emotions are running though his head like wild coyotes hunting for prey. He knows he is missed back home. He knows Star is missing him. But his greatest fear is the sand on Death's hourglass, reaching all the way to the bottom. He stood up once more. Time is a luxury he can't afford, and neither can his rescue team, if there really is one. With his walking stick, he wrote a message into the dirt next to the fire. The message was:

"COME FIND ME."

Marco drew an arrow to the kingdom he was heading. Once he was completed, he did his best to avoid both the fire and the message by going around the logs. He then let out a sigh of relief, with a little bit of speculation that his rescue team would be able to locate his destination.

"Forgive me, Star," Marco said to himself, as he began walking towards his journey. "I gotta do this for me."


	4. Capítulo Cuatro

Star sat not too close from the castle, but far enough to where anyone from the inside can see her. After the argument she lost against Toffee, she couldn't bear to let him see her defeat. She was weak. She was cornered. She took a loss.

As she sat on the sidewalks that lead to the castle, she looked at the pair of dimensional scissors. As clean as Marco's side of the bathroom, she saw her reflection through the blade. Keeping the scissors was one thing, but using it was a burden she'd never thought would happen. And here Star was, about to make the hardest decision she had ever made in her life:

Leaving Marco behind.

Before she made this decision, she spent all night trying to find him. The only two locations she thought Marco would go is the village of Mewni and the forest of certain death. Although Star was convinced that Marco was hiding among the villagers, if her parents found out about this incident, she would never hear the end of it. So she ending up searching all the ends of the forest, only to find nothing or no one that looked like the missing Diaz. The carnivorous plants, the bloodthirsty animals, the cave that had a hydra, all of it never led to him.

It is now morning in Mewni. Star is still holding onto the scissors, but her decision has not yet been chosen. She didn't mean to separate them apart. She always wanted to have fun with Marco after all. The smile on his face brought a fiesta to her day. Not to mention, he was always there to help her. But she never would've thought those days would be numbered. She crossed the line between them, and for all she knows, she could only find the dead body of a teenage human. Marco's beginning to fade away, and the chances of getting him back are looking grim, even if she really had feelings for the guy that accepted her.

A teardrop fell on the blade. A couple more tears fell off her face, but the waterworks can't be shut off. Her fate has been sealed, as well as Marco's. Star stood up from the ground and polished the tears off the scissors. She looked at her reflection once more, only to look at the waterworks flowing through her heart cheeks. There was no turning back from this. Marco has been lost.

Suddenly, the smell of burning wood was flying through the cold, Mewni air. She smelled it through these woods that almost looked like the forest of certain death. When she turned to where the smoke was, she found the woods. She also examined the smoke coming off; the smoke traveled through the branches of the trees and above the trees as well.

"Marco...?" she said to herself, sniffling. "Is that you...?"

She slowly waked towards the the entrance of the clouds of smoke passed by her face, making her cough momentarily. It was quite hard to see at first, considering that the trees and stems were bigger than the ones in the forest of certain death, but she was able to discover a fire that was far beyond her reach. Her sight may be unclear, but the hopes of finding Marco was very endearing to her.

"Oh, Marco," she said, "please tell me that you're here..."

Star began to search around the woods. She tried her best not to get hurt from the long stems that grew beneath the ground, but Marco needed to be saved as soon as possible. She even tried swinging through the branches to pick up speed, but that ended up short-lived, for some of those branches were unable to carry her weight. Nevertheless, her search was relentless.

In a couple of minutes, she finally reached the spot of the fire. The area had a small fire with a bunch of small twigs, a long stick with a tip burnt into charcoal, and two logs to sit on. Star knew it was him who had this base. There was no one within miles of the woods who could make a good place to survive out here. Admittedly, she was impressed with the way Marco took care of himself out in the open, but she would've been more pleased with the results if he was still here to greet her. However, she almost burst into tears of joy; the fact that he had been here gave Star even more time to rescue the missing Diaz.

After observing his little camping spot. she discovered some sort of message on the ground. It was portrayed next to the fire, so she can easily read what it had to say. She was even lucky to not have stepped on it during the whole observation.

With an arrow pointing North, the message read, "COME FIND ME."

Star wanted to scream in excitement. It almost felt like she was meeting him halfway. The thoughts of holding onto him tightly went quickly into her head like a blast from her wand. Everything was going in the right direction. Marco's still breathing.

She went back to reality. She was curious as to where that arrow lead to, and, to her disbelief, it pointed to a small village and a huge castle. Marco may be alive, but the possibility of him hiding in there frightened her. It's not just any village, nor it is any castle. That place belongs to her parents. And, here she was, with the hopes of avoiding a steamy mother has severely damaged. Risky or not, it was the only way to be certain that he is still living.

"Marco," she said to herself, getting ready to leave the base, "you'd better be worth the trouble..."


	5. Capítulo Cinco

Marco fought for his life. The journey to the village was proven to be a dangerous ride for him. Monsters and beasts tried to stand in his way, but he was able to fend them off, despite having a sprained ankle. He was lucky none of them were working with the lawyer who was trying to put him back inside the glass chamber.

He didn't push on unscratched, however. Some monsters were able to scratch him, bruise him, and, if they're lucky, pin them down. Nevertheless, the ones who tried to challenge Marco were left unconscious.

He is bleeding. There were marks all over him. He had a bruised eye, a shirt that's nearly ripped from the front and back, and a slightly big scratch on the leg that held the sprained ankle. He feared that some of his marks may contained a poison he is unaware of, but he can deal with that some other time. He is close to ending his suffering. He is close to getting back to Star.

The journey took him all morning, but he arrived to his destination. It is exactly how he remembered it when Star took him and his family took a trip over here. Children were roaming around, either playing with the very little material that they had, or ending up in a cauldron unapologetic-ally. Their moms were here, but they were as miserable as the princesses at St. Olga's Reform School, for they had to deal with their whining voices. There were certain markets here as well, offering materials that Marco was unfamiliar with. Lastly, there was the animals in the barn, relaxing in their small fences as if they living the dream.

Marco slowly walked around the village with his walking stick. He assured himself that if he could get inside the big castle unnoticed, he would be able to convince the king and queen to send him back home. But his doubts began to reach his mind. Whatever poisoned his insides were starting to affect him greatly. Almost everything became a blur to him. He couldn't quite read the signs on the villagers' houses when he passed them by. He felt like the rabbit moving slow when he was back into the time dimension. His knees were getting weak, and his grip on the stick wasn't going to last long.

It's motion sickness all over again.

A villager girl sat outside her house, looking at her surroundings. Despite all the whining coming from the children, it felt peaceful around here. She admired the quietness around the village, even if the village was garbage. She always thought it was nice to sit outside her house and smell the fresh Mewni air instead of being trapped inside and waiting for something exciting to come running in. Suddenly, her eyes witnessed a sick and damaged man walking by the streets, with the stability of a walking stick to move him along. Without hesitation, she got off her seat and walked towards him in an attempt to see if he can fix him.

Marco instantly halted as soon as a villager girl halted his trail. The girl asked her, "Excuse me, sir, but are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he responded to her, as his tone quickly got weaker. "I just need to get on my way."

"Are you sure? You're all banged up. You should stop while you're ahead."

"I assure you, I am fine. Could you please let me get going?"

"Where exactly are you going?"

"I must head to the castle. I have to talk to talk to the king and queen."

He was about to walk past her to march onward, but the girl laid her hand on his torn grey shirt. The both of them were hoping this won't resort to violence on the streets of Mewni.

"You can't leave," she warned him. "Not in this condition."

"I already told you, my condition is fine," Marco answered, as he clenched his fist. "Just let me go to the castle."

"Quit the act! You'll only make this worse."

"You don't understand! I have to go! I must head back! I need to see her again..."

Marco's sickness finally got the best of him. He couldn't even make his eyes stay open when he said those words. He couldn't feel the villager's hand on his chest, nor he could hang on to the walking stick that kept him straight. And now, like a lumberjack chopping a tree in a forest, his whole body fell face first into the pavement, with his eyes fully shut.

"Sir?" the girl asked him.

She took his face off the dirt. She was hoping the person she just talked too wasn't dead. She was only trying to save him, after all. Both of her her hand were grabbing on his shirt, as he shook him back and forth to see if he is still breathing.

"Sir?!" the villager began to scream. "SIR?! SIR?! DON'T DIE ON ME! GET UP, GET UP!"

Certain people began to hear the screaming. It toppled the whining of the babies, making it sound like if was a crime scene. As loud as it may sound like, none of those people went to the screeching sound, for they were easily minding their own business.

"SIR?!" she screamed again. "DON'T DIE ON ME!"


	6. Capítulo Seis

Star ran as fast as she could. Not a single mark was laid upon her when she escaped the woods. Like how she was when she tried to find the fire, she jumped over the big stems, swung through the branches of the trees, and even blasted through obstacles that stood in her way. She had no intentions to stop whatsoever. Marco will be saved, whether she'll make it or die trying.

Eventually, once she got out of the woods, she stopped to catch her breath in the middle of Mewni's corn fields. The fields were huge; she could barely see the village she was going to from where she stood. Still trying to catch her breath, she looked at the ground that grew the infinite amounts of corn. There were monster footprints that were left on the soil. Looking at the footprints closely, it weren't the same monsters that would try to defeat her all the time. Nevertheless, the fact that there were monsters roaming around this area captured her interest.

There was one thing that shocked her down to her core, however. Next to some of the monster footprints lies blood on the corn stems. She was unsure which one was the monsters' and which one was from a man from Mewni, but it made it feel like it was a massacre. She didn't even want to think it was Marco's blood stained on there. She would've beat herself to death if that happened.

With more observing, Star found more footprints on the soil. Some of those footprints looked like one of the villagers from Mewni, but the most of it was dominated by the shape of a sneaker. It looked really familiar; the pattern of the sneaker looked exactly like pattern at the bottom of Marco's sneakers. This felt like it was the most obvious sign yet. Marco was right here, but it only begged the question: Is he still alive?

She wanted to stop thinking about it, but she couldn't bring herself down to do it. Footprints were scattered across the ground of the corn fields. Small blood stains were visible on the corn stems. And to top it off, the plants nearly covered the sight of the village. She's on the verge of crying once more. She couldn't clear the sight of red on her eyes.

* * *

Star was excited to celebrate her first Christmas. Granted, she's unfamiliar with the human culture around Earth, but that wasn't going to stop her for having a great time. She loved the stories Marco told her about it. The presents, the snow, the mistletoe, she loved it all. He only didn't tell her about the man that went by Santa Claus. Only Marco's mom told her about him, and it almost caused her to make her stay up all night until she could shoot the bearded man out of the house.

When Christmas Day arrived, her heart was filled with joy. She hasn't been this excited for a holiday since she was celebrating Mewnipendence Day with her family. She met Marco's family, and every single member of the Diaz family loved her. The party was a blast as well; the food tasted fantastic and the adventures Marco and her shared put a smile and a laugh on everyone.

After everyone had something to eat, it was time to open up presents. Since she was new with every member of the Diaz family, she gave every one of them their very own laser puppy. Everyone loved the generous gift she gave them; the puppies warm their hearts with their cuteness, but nearly blinded them with their lasers. When it was all said and done, she then started to give Marco his gift. It wasn't really a big present for him, but she was confident that he will love it.

He began to unwrap his present. As soon as he was finished, he noticed a shine coming out of the box. The gift Star gave him left him speechless. It was a sword forged by one of the blacksmiths in Mewni. He was really excited when he got it, but at the same time, he did best not to behead an uncle when he was waving it around and bragging about it. Needless to say, it was the best gift he had ever got.

After showing off the flashiness of the sword, Marco put it aside and gave Star her present. The present was much smaller than her present to him, but it didn't matter to him. As soon as she finished opening it, she was a bit confused with it. Luckily, he told her that the present she got was a wireless speaker. He always felt she wanted to dance and party all the time, so getting her this was the best thing he could give her.

Once she was able to understand the gift he got, Star had been using it ever since. Using Marco's phone, she played through his songs every day until the battery on either the phone or the speaker ran out. She even added some of her songs onto his phone so she could play them on blast. It might have been regrettable for Marco to get her that speaker, but he really had nothing else to give to her anyways. He would just take his aggression out on some karate chops anyways.

One day, when the two of them were just chilling in Star's room, Star found a playlist that he made specifically for his crush, Jackie Lynn Thomas. It nearly made him go into a mental breakdown. Of all those times he let her use his phone, the last thing he wanted her to see was that playlist. Marco begged her not to play it, but she insisted on playing it. That made him even more desperate. He tried everything to get his phone out of her hands, but that ended dramatically as soon as she aimed her wand at her.

Suddenly, she played the playlist through the wireless speakers. A slow-dance song filled the big room in a matter of seconds. While Star was pleased of the music that was playing, Marco buried his head with her pillows. Seeing him like that upsets her all the time. It made her decide between what she wanted to do next. She wanted to stop playing the music, but she also wanted him to enjoy the moment. In the end, she only wants to cheer him up.

She tried to remove him out of her bed, but he wasn't willing to move out. It was only when she used magic to remove the sad Diaz off the bed. Even after that, Marco was still lying down, being super upset with her. She picked him up on the ground, and asked him politely to dance with her. Marco completely ignored request and tried to grab his phone back. Given no other option, Star agreed that if he would dance with her, she promised he will get his phone back. He respectfully accepted her offer.

Before the two of them started dancing, however, she popped a hat for Marco to wear with her wand. The hat looked identical to the hat he wore when they were dancing at the Blood Moon Ball. He wasn't sure what the purpose of her popping in the hat, but she wanted him to put it on anyways. He only wanted this to be over, so her wish was his command.

So there they are, dancing to the slow beat of Marco's unwanted playlist bursting through the wireless speaker. When they were dancing together, Star's intentions weren't to recreate the events of the Blood Moon Ball. However, the slow dance the two of them shared in her room felt like it was a hundred times better than the ball. She admired Marco's dancing; he was always on rhythm with her, if not ahead of the rhythm. The way he moved almost made her weak in the knees. She wouldn't care, because if she couldn't feel her legs, she was confident that he will sweep her off.

Finally, the two were locked up standing still. The position they were in was the same one from the ball, when the ruby shined its light on them when they held each other close. Only difference is, they kept on looking at each other. They both were speechless. Star and Marco are just friends, but that moment felt very different to them. It was like they saw the universe inside of them.

Marco let go of her hand and grabbed onto her shoulders. She felt his soft hands touch her skin, making her feel like she was cuddling a laser puppy. Pretty soon, her hands locked onto his waist, feeling the cotton of Marco's red hoodie. She had no control of her actions; none of them could stop what they were doing. But both of them let it happen anyways. This was the closest these two friends have ever been, and it could be getting closer.

Suddenly, a scream could be heard from downstairs. It was Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, asking for some help with bringing in the groceries. With an instant, Star and Marco both snapped out of it, and turned the speaker off. Marco quickly grabbed phone, and headed towards the exit to help his parents out. Star wanted to help out, but she rather wanted to process what just happened.

The dance was a rush of blood to their heads.

* * *

After a couple of tears running down her face, Star picked herself off the ground. Once again, she looked at her surroundings and found nothing but corn. She did, however, found an old farmer trying to pick off some fresh corn. She was curious if he knew what was with the carnage, so she rushed over to the man to see what was on his mind.

When she got to the farmer, she asked him, "Excuse me, sir!"

The old man jumped and told her, "Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

"No, no, no! I'm not here to hurt you! I just need you to answer some questions for me!"

"Oh. What is it, then?"

"I need you to tell me what happened around here. I'm also curious if you've seen a guy around here that's around ye big, wearing a grey t-shirt, got a cute little mole next to one of his eyes."

"Oh, I think I know what you mean! Just this morning, there were these monsters that were roaming around these fields! I tried to stop them to the best of my ability, but them butts just wouldn't step off my corn! They even even pushed me to the ground and swore to eat my bones!"

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry for you, sir!"

"I'm fine right now, but thanks for caring, young sweetheart. Anyways, right when one of the monsters were about to sink their teeth into my flesh, this guy brought him down to the ground with a single blow to the head! That punch knocked him out cold! All of a sudden, the rest of them started swarming him, but that man fought every single one and remained victorious! The monsters tried everything they could, but that guy was a one-man wrecking crew! Brought a tear to my eye."

"So, was that guy ye big, wearing a grey t-shirt, got a cute little mole next to one of his eyes?"

"I... think so. My eyes ain't the eyes of an intergalactic superhuman, but the brain remembers a tad part of it. Like, I'm confident that he did have a grey shirt, and he definitely had pants on."

Star felt like a part of the weight off her back had been partially relieved. The little details the farmer gave her was just enough to prove that Marco was here. He may be a misunderstood bad boy, but deep down, she knows he's a saint. Heck, she would've done the same thing if it meant beating up more monsters and bad guys. But the speculation of the blood haunts her state of mind. It was unclear for her to know if the missing Diaz really died trying to save a local. She didn't want to cry again, especially in front of the man she was talking to, but she really wanted to know if there's still a chance to save him.

"Is there anything else that happened, sir?" she asked, acting scared.

"Oh... oh, yeah," the farmer replied. "After the guy knocked out every monster, he got really messed up. I think there was bits of his blood on the corn stems. Either that, or monster blood. Like I said, pretty bad eyesight. Anyways, the guy got scratches all over him. His back, his chest, almost his head, and just one of his two legs. And, well, before he saved me, he walked in with a stick to help for his sprained ankle. I tried to thank him for saving me from those terrible monsters, but this old body weren't able to catch up to that injured guy."

So her theories were true. Marco was here, and he truly paid the price for it. She feared about his time being limited due to the big fight he had. He might be good at karate, but she had a feeling he wouldn't last long around here. He is still on the loose, and it's making her have a mental breakdown.

Star asked the farmer about where he was going to, and the farmer pointed her to the village. He also noted that he be trying to get some help. Star nodded and thanked him for his time. The two went their separate ways and went on to their respectful businesses.

"Marco..." she said to herself, trying to find her way to the village. "Please be alive..."


	7. Capítulo Siete

All Marco saw was carnage.

The villagers' houses were destroyed. Everything that surrounded him was burning a bright flame. The villagers were either destroyed or damaged during the destruction. However, some of them were scattering, trying to find a place to hide from the beast. Knights and guards tried to pin the beast down, but it took them down with its monstrous power. It was indestructible.

Marco was only a victim. He simply had no control over the beast's actions. He wasn't able to save this town from the doom it caused. The beast had a killer instinct, and he was unable to turn the switch off. And everything that was happening right in front of him was all his fault. All because he was the beast.

Marco Diaz was cursed.

* * *

Marco slowly woke up from a dirty, small bed. He had another nightmare, but it was far worse from the campfire one. Hoping to avoid thinking about both of them, Marco looked at his surroundings. A window came from his right side, shining a little bit of light into the room. The dresser and closet were right next to the door to the room he is in. He knew right away that he was in the guest room of a villager's house. And to top it off, the villager girl that stopped him from talking to the king and queen was sitting on a chair next to his left side.

He then proceeded to look at his shirt. The ripped fabric was still there, but the scratches were slowly healing. His ankle was starting to feel much better than it was this morning. He touched his forehead, but all of it was covered in bandages. He didn't think he hit his head hard on someone or something, but it's just what happens when you're out cold from poisoning. In fact, the speculation of poison inside him surely caught his eye.

As soon as he stopped looking, a man walked inside of room. He had long, blonde hair that was tied up into a bun on the back of his head. Even with all that hair, though, he was still wearing stained, villager clothes. He held two bowls of noodle soup: one for the girl, and one for Marco, in case he woke up.

Before he handed the soup, the villager said, "Well, looks like someone woke up early."

He handed the girl her soup on her lap and placed the other one on the nightstand. The girl almost spilled hers because of how hot it was.

"Do any of you guys know where I am?" Marco asked with a tired look on his face.

"You're inside our house," the girl replied as she attempted to cool down her soup. "I wasn't sure if you died when we first met, so my husband, Comet, tried to nurse you back to health."

"I find that hard to believe," Marco told her. "I find your medicare and your doctor to be untrustworthy."

"Nonsense!" her husband said. "These doctors can fix anyone up. I knew a guy who once lost his legs, but now she's good as new!"

"Is she a centaur now?"

"Well... yeah, she is. But hey, she runs faster than every one of her friends!"

"It still cost her a fortune, though," the girl added. "Luckily, Comet went to the pharmacy to get some healing potions and got you all patched up. And it's working so far. The cuts are starting to heal you. Slowly, but surely, as they say."

"If I'm starting to get better, then I should be able to leave," Marco responded. "I don't wish to be a bothersome for you guys."

"Woah, woah, woah," Comet said to him. "Let's do a quick recap. You scared my wife into thinking you were dead. I carried you into our house. I ran to get you health supplies to make you breathing. And now you just wanna leave the moment you got up? Who's to say it won't happen again?"

"I'm saying it won't happen," he replied. "Time is a luxury that I can't afford. I have to go."

"Not in this condition," the girl said, beginning to eat her noodle soup. "You need a little more rest. You're not gonna scare me again if you end up passing out on the floor from poisoning."

"But-"

"Enough," Comet interrupted. "Just eat your soup. Guys like you need to eat."

Marco let out a loud groan as Comet left the room. He slammed the back of his head onto the pillows, which was barely as soft as a pile of mud. He was trapped again, but by the villagers of Mewni instead of monsters under Toffee's control. Granted, these villages were a bit nicer and took care of him, but this Diaz really wants to get out as soon a possible. All of his worries and all of Star's worries would vanish if he could just taste freedom once more.

He turned his head and looked at the noodle soup on the nightstand. He then looked at the villager girl eating hers. She was halfway finished with it. Looking back at the one on the nightstand, he reflected on the argument between him and Star once more. He still thought it was stupid of them to cheat the grim reaper over a stinking sandwich. If he had to choose, however, he would pick Death's sandwich over Toffee's. Toffee's sandwich was his gateway out of the prison he was sent to. Needless to say, Comet was right about him. His stomach was begging on his knees like religion. He didn't die for this soup, but he know he's gonna die from hunger without it. So he got his head off the mud pillow, took the bowl of soup off the nightstand, and laid it on the mattress.

"Oh, yeah, We haven't introduced ourselves yet," the villager girl said, taking a couple more bites before finishing her soup. "The name's Maria."

"I'm Marco," he responded.

"Cool."

"Not sure if you know this, but I ain't from around here."

"Another dimension, huh?"

"Yeah, and it's called Earth."

"Interesting. Not many people from Earth can come here."

"Well, I was put here by accident."

"Does that explain your injuries? They look pretty gruesome to me."

"Yes... and no. These scars were from protecting a farmer from monsters, while my sprained ankle was from falling in the woods."

After eating all of the noodles and drinking the broth, Maria placed her empty bowl on the nightstand. As Marco was still eating his soup, he noticed a couple similarities between him and her. There was a small mole that lied underneath her right eye, just like his small mole. She wore a red, dirty hoodie that looks like the hundreds of hoodies he had back home, but it had buttons instead of a single zipper. The hoodie she wore also covered a grey tank top, which is somehow clean. Her hairstyle made her look tomboy-ish, or in Marco's case, Marco-ish. And to top it off, the pants she wore made her look skinny.

He felt as if he was staring through the looking glass.

"So why do you need to get back home so quickly?" Maria asked him.

"No offense to you guys," he told her, halfway finished with the soup, "but I'm not meant to be here. I want to go back home."

"You miss your family, don't you?"

"I really do. I also miss a friend of mine back home. She goes by the name of Star."

"Interesting. You guys close?"

"We were. And then we got into an argument. Now I'm not so sure on where we stand."

"You're hoping the two of you can forgive and forget, correct?

Marco nodded his head as he took one last bite of the noodles.

"Well, whatever the fight was, it's gonna go away. Back then, me and Comet used to fight monsters all the time. Eventually, as the monsters started to give up, we started to grow up. That made us have arguments from time to time. It drove us crazy, and pushing almost came to shoving. But I knew I couldn't stay mad at him, and neither could he. And we may be soooooooo different from each other, but we knew we can fight our fights together."

"So you two were able to overcome your differences, and it lead to you two getting married?"

"Yep. Now, I know you and Star are just friends, but it could be something to think about in the near future. Like, when you find the perfect girl."

Marco got his noodle bowl empty and left his on the nightstand, just like Maria. Soon, Maria called Comet over to pick up the dishes.

"I'll make sure to remember the relationship you two have when I find her," Marco said to her.


	8. Capítulo Ocho

Star made it to the village in the middle of the afternoon. As expected, it was the same as she remembered it when she was young. Then again, most of her childhood was spent fighting monsters and chilling with Pony Head. Still, whining children, small markets, brewing witches, and barn animals takes her back to when she wasn't sent to Earth.

Before she started to find Marco, she hid behind an alleyway between two villager houses. The last thing she wanted to do is get caught from her parents for using dimensional scissors to find a living, breathing Diaz. Even with the king and queen living and watching on top of the castle of Mewni, Star knew that avoiding a furious mama would be hard to manage around. So she took out her wand and quickly cast a spell to blend in with one of the villagers.

"That should keep me out of trouble," Star said to herself. "Now, let's get this over with."

She never left the alleyway, though. As much as she wanted to continue with the mission, she was halted by a rumbling. Her stomach was like avid beasts, circling around her prey and waiting to know who wanted to eat first. She didn't want Marco to die from whatever caused his death, but at the same time, she didn't want herself to die from hunger. She then thought about the corn fields. She could've taken two or three cobs of corn when she was there, but after hearing the farmer getting attacked and Marco getting beat up to save him, she thought it was best to leave it be. She was too far ahead of her journey to ask politely for corn, and she had no money on her to buy whatever food the villagers were offering.

So Star cast a spell that gave her a meal, a glass of water, and a napkin to clean her face. Sadly, no one had created a nacho spell and put it in her large spellbook (not only that, but she didn't even bring it with her), so she was left with doing the next best thing: casting a well done meal of ribs. A shame she wasn't able to make her favorite triangle food, because she was craving it the most when her stomach was growling like bloodthirsty warnicorns.

Marco was the only person that satisfied her munchies.

* * *

"You know, you never showed me how to cook nachos," Star said.

It was a warm Friday afternoon inside Marco's house. The two of them just came back from school, and Marco's karate lessons were canceled today due to Star's "incident" with the equipment. Marco grabbed the ingredients to his famous nacho recipe while Star was sitting in one of the seats in the dining table.

"You never asked about how to make them," Marco replied.

"I never thought about it until now," Star responded.

"Well, you still got your wand. You'll just cast a spell and have waffles for dinner, like what you usually do."

"Yeah, but it'll be nice to learn how to make my own food. Back when I was young, servants would always make food for me and and my family."

"That ain't gonna make me teach you even more."

"Aw, come on, Marco! Don't be a Ludo. Just teach me how to make nachos! It'll be beneficial for my normal person experience."

"Well, if it means that much to you, I guess I could teach you the ways of a Diaz classic."

Star jumped for joy and hugged Marco once more. Marco smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. Once they stopped hugging, he began to teach her the simplicity of Nachos 101.

He started by opening two fresh bags of tortilla chips. He then told Star to watch carefully as he poured the right amount of chips into his plate. He specially told her not to use magic to do what he just did, and she obeyed his command. Soon, Star poured her amount of tortilla chips into her plate, but it was slightly bigger than his plate of chips, so some chips ended on the kitchen floor. Fortunately, Marco wasn't mad at her; he congratulated her on her first try and began to throw away the chips off the floor. She did ate the last chip before Marco was able to throw it away, and the taste was decent for a triangle food that wasn't covered in nacho cheese. The two of them laughed momentarily and went back to Nachos 101.

He then taught her how to make the cheese. This part was a tad bit hard for Star, but she was able to make the cheese right without using magic. When she was pouring the cheese into the tortilla chips, Marco advised her to wear oven mitts when dealing with the hot queso. The last thing he wanted was burnt fingers. Star avoided his safe kid comment and decided not to wear the gloves. Star was soon to regret her decision. Because of how hot the cheese was, Star moved as quickly as she can and poured the cheese all over the chips. It stung her hands pretty bad.

The two of them looked at Star's hands. The sting was hurtful for her, but there were no significant burns. The two of them then looked at each other once more. Marco was holding her hands, not like how he held them in the Blood Moon Ball, but like he was really concerned for her. And it was like she completely forgot she touched hot queso a minute ago. In short, they had the "seeing the universe inside of them" look to each other again.

They stopped looking at each other and realized the nachos had been ready. Marco and Star decided to submerge the two big piles of nachos and ate them together.

"Not bad for a beginner nacho maker, Star," Marco mentioned.

* * *

Due to how starving Star was, she was able to finish her ribs in 5-7 minutes. The bones was handed to a villager who questioned why she was here, and who was she. Luckily, the bones avoided the conversation to go any further. Which was kinda bad, though, because he could've known where Marco was. Needless to say, she dodged a bullet from being discovered as the princess of Mewni and her parents blowing up in anger.

She wiped the barbecue off her face. Although the sauce might represent as blood to make the villagers tremble in fear, keeping it on won't help get her close to finding the missing Diaz. When she was done cleaning up her face, she threw the napkin as far as she could to see if she could hit one of the villagers. Unfortunately, it wasn't even close to touching one. She then noticed her cup of water and picked it up; it was only half-empty because she wanted to finish the ribs first and go back to her mission. So she decided to take the glass with her in order to finish her quest on finding Marco while finishing her cup of water.

"I know you're alive, Marco," Star said to herself, as she began to walk out of the alleyway. "I just gotta find you before I think otherwise."


	9. Capítulo Nueve Parte Uno

"Can't I just leave already?" Marco asked.

It's now been half an hour since Marco finished his soup. During that time, he lied on the uncomfortable bed, facing towards the window. Maria stayed in the room with him, making sure he was safe and sound. It creeped him out a lot, so he decided to avoid eye contact with her as much as she can. Nevertheless, neither one of them moved a muscle.

"I already told you, no," Maria replied. "You need to get fully recovered."

"But I am recovered," Marco mentioned. "No need to check up on me or watch me anymore."

"Yeah, well, you still ain't 100%," Maria responded.

Marco sighed and asked her, "You should really stop playing it safe, kid."

"I am not a safe kid!" Maria exclaimed, as she fluffed up his pillows for a brief moment. "I'm only keeping you alive, that's all."

"You're keeping me inside a prison, safe kid."

"Shut up already!"

"If you insist, safe kid. I'm your captive, after all."

Maria tried her best not to punch him. She clenched her fist so tightly, but it was simply no way to treat a man, especially if that man almost died. Marco looked at her and smirked directly to her. She still kept her cool and decided to sit back down on the chair, while making sure there were no splinters on there.

The room went silent for the next couple of minutes. Marco still faced the window, thinking about how the heck he was going to get out of here and have Star's parents bring him back to Earth. On the other hand, Maria felt a little tired from watching him lie on the bed. She gave a couple yawns and slowly closed her eyes, but she still remained awake in her chair. In order of her to remain awake, she took out an instrument from underneath the bed. And with no hesitation, she began to play a song she knew a long time ago.

Soon, Marco began to hear notes playing inside the room. The music felt like he was back with his family. He began to turn around to see where the music was coming from. Once he found the location, he saw Maria sitting on her chair, playing such beautiful music that came from none other than a guitar. He took his head off the pillow and laid his feet on the floor, so he could be starstruck from her music filling up the room with her strumming hand's movement.

Never would he thought anyone else could play the guitar quite like him.

* * *

Marco laid quietly in a chair that was next to his office desk. The red hoodie Diaz was left with nothing to do on a Thursday night. He finished all his homework for his classes, wrote all his essays that needed to be turned in, and studied well enough for a couple of tests. It may have been boring and tiresome, but it never wore him down and he would always get the job done. He could play some more video games to cure his boredom, but he felt like it wasn't enough to take his boredom out. No one, not even Jackie Lynn Thomas, were sending him any replies to his texts he constantly sends. And he had enough adventures with Star for one day.

So he grabbed his old guitar his grandpa gave him when he was 12 underneath the bed. He tried to remember a song he would always listen to in his younger years, but the most part, he was winging it. Then, he strummed the notes in his head, and it played throughout the corners of his room. He wasn't sure if anyone else in the house could hear the guitar playing, considering that he closed his door to not get bothered, but he kept on playing. That was soon to change once Star came bursting through halfway through the song.

"MARCO!" she yelled as fast as she can.

Marco got terrified as he immediately stopped playing. Something suspicious was going on, but he couldn't put his finger one it.

"Are you ok?!" Star said as she ran to him as quickly as she can. "Are you hurt?! Did anyone else get hurt?! Is someone hurt?!"

"Star, it's fine," he told her, trying to calm her down. "I'm still breathing, dude."

"So, you really are ok? You're not hurt or injured?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt at all."

"And no one got injured? Everyone's not dead?"

"No one got hurt. Everyone's still alive."

Star let out a sigh of relief. She got extremely scared on a false alarm. Marco, however, felt really confused on his situation. He was only trying to play the guitar once more, after all. Yet, here they are, with a princess finally calmed down and a guitar player sitting in silence.

"Is there any reason why you burst through my room like that?" he asked. "I mean, I only wanted to play a song and maybe eat something afterwards."

"Oh, right," she responded as she took a seat on his bed. "I'm sorry about that. It's just... a long story from long ago. You know how it is, right?"

"I'm listening."

"Well, even after the great monster massacre that changed everything, there were still fights going along. But it wasn't Mewmans against monsters that kept on fighting. Instead, Mewmans was fighting against other Mewmans. Months after the kingdom of Mewni was made, riots filled up the streets, fighting for fair rights and whatnot. Surprising how it takes one to bring an uprising to a kingdom. War was basically fought between the villagers and the queen's guards, and it wasn't pretty. Some guards died, and some villagers died as well. In short, this uprising was cut short when the leader was cut in the gut.

"Anyways, when a guard or villager got really hurt from the battle, an instrument just like yours was played next to the guy that got injured. It was said that any song played from that instrument was to help recover the man from certain death. Sometimes, the song would work for them, and it got them better. Other times, it wouldn't work, and they would die like that. One of my great ancestors who served as one of the guards for Mewni died like that... I don't know how the song went, but it was the last song she heard before she passed..."

A tear from her eye fell to the ground. Marco had never seen this side from Star in his entire life. He knew about Mewnipendence Day. He read every page, took out every flap, and stared at all the pictures it created. But he would never think there would be another side to this holiday. A part of him wanted to look further to it, but his only concern was about her.

"Geez, Star," he said as he put away the guitar, "I'm so sorry. I- I didn't know about it. I can put it away if you want."

"No, it's ok!" she said sniffling. "It's nothing really. You're really good at playing it. Go play another song."

"No, I won't play another one."

The guitar went back underneath his bed. He put his hand on top of hers, hoping that he could cheer her up. She stared at him, only to see how concerned he was for her. She might had some regrets from telling her story, but she let fate take its course, and let Marco take care of the situation.

"Star..." Marco told her, as he was touching her hair with his other hand. "I know it means a lot to you. And I'm not playing another song. The least I could do is keep this princess happy."

The moment he said that, his mind went blank. He didn't know exactly what he said, and he wouldn't believe it if he heard it again. And it left her speechless. His left hand was still on top her hand, and his right hand was still messing around with her hair. This was the type of thing he dreamed of with Jackie Lynn Thomas. He would always think of playing his guitar in front of her, which had her captivated by the notes. Then, the two of them would get closer than they've ever been, and rest would be history.

But it wasn't Jackie Lynn Thomas. It was Star Butterfly instead.

Marco finally stopped what he was doing. He giggles and scratched his head in disbelief. Star giggled as well, as she tried to sink this moment in. The room went back into silence again, as the two of them put the past behind them.

"So, uh," Marco asked, "are you gonna watch anything on TV tonight?"

"I might," Star responded. "You wanna join me?"

"Sure, I could go for some TV."

* * *

Marco continued to listen to Maria's guitar music. All of the notes sounded like the notes he would play when he was young. And he couldn't believe it one bit. Although he still thought about Star and the reason he was here, he was captivated with the music. In short, her music took him away.

"Maria," he asked her. "How did you learn how to play like that?"

"Oh, this?" Maria replied as she continued to play her guitar. "Well, before my grandma died, she taught me how to play this thing. My husband loves it when I play songs for him."

"I don't blame him. You're an excellent player."

"Why, thanks. I've also heard stories about what happened after the great monster massacre, but Comet says he's cool with me playing it. He must really like my music."

"He really does. Really..."

Marco got out of the bed as soon as Maria finished playing the guitar. He helped her by putting it back to which it came. Then, he laid his left hand on her should and his right hand on her face. Maria had no idea what was going on; she knew his scars are much better than before, but his plans were a blur with her. She felt like she were under his will now.

"Maria..." he told her.

"Marco?" she asked. "What are you-"

Before she could finish, Marco locked lips with her. And it most definitely caught her by surprise. She wanted to let go of him, but she was actually enjoying it. In fact, after she was in shock for a couple of seconds, she closed her eyes. His kiss was unlike her husband's kisses; Marco had a sense of passion the longer it went, while Comet can be a little aggressive when he does it. In fact, she didn't even thought about Comet during that kiss.

After a long, enduring minute, the two finally stopped kissing. They wanted to say something to each other, but no words flew out of their mouths. Marco's mind went blank once again, while Maria blushed at him. She started to think if he lost control of himself, and the speculation grew once more when he started to grab her hand.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"


	10. Capítulo Nueve Parte Dos

Marco and Maria both stopped what they were doing and looked at the front door. The shouted voice came from none other than Maria's husband, Comet. He stood in anger and disgust, as if he was a demon ex-boyfriend. He clenched his fist tightly, with the only thought in his mind was a killer instinct.

"Comet!" Maria told him as she got off her chair. "It's not what it looks like, ok?"

"I'm sure it is, Maria!" he responded. "The way that stranger kissed you like that."

"It was all so sudden! I tried to stop him, but-"

"I'm sorry, but from what it sounds and looks like, you were asking for it!"

"I HAD NO CONTROL!"

"Stop it already," Marco interrupted. "She only took care of me. Nothing more."

"You shut up and stay out of this," Comet screamed. "Like kissing my wife's an actual treatment for you."

"But it really did, though. The taste of her lips was like sweet nectar."

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"

"It only makes me wonder why you gave your wife a good kissing like that. Heck, I know for a fact that she'd enjoyed it. Maybe I'd be a better fit in this relationship. Give her something she'd really enjoy."

With his anger at his boiling point, Comet punched Marco on his cheek. The impact left him lying on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Marco!" Maria shouted.

She ran towards his face. He still groaned from the pain, as if he got hit in the face by one of Ludo's monsters. Maria was left speechless; all these events were going too fast while she was going too slow to catch up.

"Comet, what the heck?!" she screamed to her husband. "You saved him earlier! Why are you starting to beat him up?!"

"Don't you give me that trash!" he yelled back. "You're probably gonna kiss him again to make him feel better!"

"I didn't mean to kiss him! He came at me! Why won't you listen?!"

Marco got off the ground and dusted himself off. He then saw Maria and Comet arguing at each other. Strange enough, it reminded him of the argument he and Star had with the sandwich. But those two weren't fighting about any food. They were fighting about the kiss Comet just witnessed. Still, he couldn't let them fight for that long.

"Hey," Marco interrupted, "I'm sorry for causing all this. I'll just leave now."

"You're not leaving," Maria told him. "You still need more recovery."

"And I suppose you're gonna do that by making out with him again, huh?!" Comet exclaimed.

"I'm not gonna do that!" she shouted back. "I only need to make sure he's good to go."

"He'd be better off dead! I don't even know why I even help you bring him in our house!"

"Because we're not jerks!"

"Stop it already!" Marco interrupted again. "Look, I appreciate the help you guys gave me, but you guys aren't helping each other out by fighting. Yes, I had no control in what I've done, but it was only because of love. The song reminded me of a friend of mine. So I ended up kissing the guitar player."

Maria and Comet began to stare at each other. Comet calmed down after hearing the truth from Marco, but the kiss still enraged him. Meanwhile, Maria was left with silence again. After hearing the truth, she finally knew why Marco went up to her and kissed her. It was because he was in love with his friend. She then began to think about her relationship she told him about. Fights may come and go between her and Comet, but the love they shared always prevailed. And now, she needed that love to prevail right now.

"You're in love with your friend, aren't you?" she asked Marco.

"Hard to say," Marco replied. "I love her and all, but I just don't want to lose her."

"Well, you could always lose yourself if you ever want to find her."

"Is that really what I'm doing?"

"Well, you did speak the truth. That's Step 1."

Reality punched Marco in the face like the punch he took from Comet earlier. His confession came out to the villagers that took him hostage. All of his running, all of his fighting, all of his struggling. Star was the center of it all. She was the center of his mind, his heart, and his actions.

He really loved the princess of Mewni.

"Enough," Comet told him. "I want you out of here. And I don't want to ever see you again."

"But, his recovery," Maria asked, still trying to convince Comet for Marco to stay.

"FORGET ABOUT HIS STUPID RECOVERY ALREADY! He's fine, look at him. We don't need any more proof than that."

"He's right," Marco agreed. "I need to go already. Time's waiting."

"I guess," Maria responded. "Just try to remember us when you two are together."

"I promise," he told her.

Marco began to get out of the room and to the front door of their house. Both Maria and Comet followed him out; Comet followed in case he tried to pull something with his wife while Maria follow him to say farewell.

"I'm coming for you, Star," Marco told himself as he turned the doorknob. "I hope we could work something out."


	11. Capítulo Diez

Star spent an hour trying to find Marco in the village of Mewni. Unfortunately, she came up empty-handed. She asked every villager she came across, and none were able to grant her request. She was lucky enough not to get caught; a few thought it was the princess of the kingdom in disguise, but she avoided those people at all cost. They could've been of good use, but that could cause great risk of her parents finding out. Despite the disappointment, her sneakiness was good enough to keep her out of trouble. She never used a single magic spell, and no one even saw her wand. At times, she thought she lost her wand, but then she remembered how good she hid it from villagers. Breaking a floating unicorn head out of a princess prison sure has its benefits.

All this running around made her extremely exhausted. She still remembered her restless night of trying to find him at the forest of certain death. There were times where she wanted to rest, but she was darn sure her death were to remain uncertain. Nevertheless, the forest took a bunch of energy away from her, and taking a break was a luxury she couldn't afford.

In a way, it was getting rid of the monster arm all over again.

She stopped near a villager's house for a short breather. She laid her hand on the door's house, which was made out of wood like everyone else's. A rocking chair was place in front of a medium-sized window, which had a gaping hole on the bottom left. She didn't bother looking though that hole for the sole reason that she might regret what she sees inside. Overall, it wasn't so much as a big house compared to the houses back at Earth. In fact, most of these houses look the same.

After catching up to her breath, Star took her hand off the door, and gave it a gentle knock. She overheard a small argument through the broken window, but it was best if she stayed out of it. She thought about helping them, no question about it, but she don't wanna Star another thing up. She had one too many, she thought.

A villager opened a small space of the door and asked her, "Can I help you?"

"Hello, sir," she replied. "I was hoping if you can help me find someone."

"Who are you trying to find?"

"I'm trying to find a man named 'Marco Diaz.' He has a grey shirt, brown hair, wears skinny jeans."

The name Star shared gave the villager a bitter taste to his mouth. "Did you say 'Marco?'" he told her.

"Yeah," she answered, getting her hopes up. "Do you know him?"

"No, not in the slightest. Forgive me."

The villager was about to close the door, but his wife grabbed him arm to prevent him from doing so. The action took Star from surprise. They definitely know something. It's whether or not they want to help her.

"Let go of me," the villager told his wife.

"Like heck, I'll do that," she responded. "She might know something."

"I don't care. I'm not talking to anyone about it."

"You don't have to, but we're gonna help her. It's what we used to."

Still holding on to her husband's wrist, she turned to the stranger watching the argument unfold. She then realized that the stranger was no stranger to her. She was actually staring at royal blood.

"Wait a second," she said to the stranger. "That face... are you Princess Butterfly?"

"Whaaaaaaat?" Star answered nervously. "I don't know what you mean."

"You are!" she exclaimed. "You are Star Butterfly!"

Star's cheeks blushed. Her panic button was close to braking.

"Please be quiet," Star told her, trying to calm her down.

"I can't believe it, Comet!" the villager's wife shouted. "Royalty is actually at our doorstep! Can you believe it?"

"Still don't care," he replied. "I'm not in the mood."

"Ok!" Star nervously shouted. "I think I'll just go now. Thank you guys for the help. Really appreciate it."

"No, wait!" the wife responded, walking up to her while trying to calm herself down. "We do know where he is. Heck, he was inside our house earlier."

"Really? He was actually here with you guys?"

"Yes he was. If you could come inside, we could help each other out."

Comet grabbed her back inside the house. He was still displeased about this whole situation.

"Maria," he said to her, with an angered expression on his face. "I'm not letting another person in our house."

"We have to," she replied. "You're doing him a favor. You're doing us a favor."

"Well, we're out of favors to give, thanks to you."

"And thanks to the princess of Mewni, she just gave us a fresh, new favor."

As frustrated as he was, Comet let go of the door and went back inside. Maria cleared up the entrance and told Star, "Please, come in."

But Star was a bit confused about the events that unfolded. The two villagers may have some valuable information that'll get her closer to finding Marco, but there was no guarantee whatsoever. Then again, she felt like these people could be trusted. In fact, these villagers look very familiar to her.

Without hesitation, she want inside the house.

* * *

Star told them everything. From the argument about the sandwich, to the farmer that got saved by the missing Diaz, she explained everything that led her here. Maria was intrigued by every little detail, while Comet drank a bottle of strange sorts to ease his anger. She felt sad after going back through memory lane, but she felt a little comfort coming from these nice villagers. Well, from the wife, she thought.

"Oh, wow," Maria said in shock. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied, trying to fight tears. "But, I'll be better once I find Marco. That's all that matters."

"I can assure you, he wasn't fine when we both met."

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"The man barely moved when he passed my house. Scratches all over, sprained ankle, oh it was horrible."

"No kidding," Comet added. "Man fainted right in her eyes. Got her thinking he was dead. Which he should've."

"Comet!" the wife hissed.

Star was curious to know what was his beef with Marco. It could've been the reason he had such a bad attitude the moment the door opened for her. However, it was best of her to focus on his wife's story instead. All she knew for sure is the drink he was drinking did not help with anger management.

"Sorry about that, Star," Maria told her.

"No, it's ok," she answered, as Comet rolled his eyes in disgust. "Please continue."

"Right. Anyways, Comet brought him inside our house and helped him get back to health."

"I've should've never done that," Comet interrupted again, sipping the last drops for his drink. "And you should've let him go."

"Comet, please!" Maria yelled to him, clenching her fist. "Could you just move the heck on?!"

"Well, it's hard to do that when I saw my wife cheating on me in front of my own eyes."

"Just shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Woah, woah, whoa," Star said to them, separating the villagers with her arms. She turned to Maria and asked her, "What's your husband talking about?"

"That's right," he replied for her, as steamy as he got. "I left her nursing your Marco, and when I got inside the room, she was making out with him!"

Star gasped from his statement, while Maria argued, "For the love of the kingdom, that did not happen! HE CAME AT ME! Marco even admitted it himself! None of us had any control!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Ungrateful wife I married."

"WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?! HUH?!"

Star held the steamy wife as far as she could. Maria swung as much as she could, in hopes to crush his skull until he begs for mercy. Star was hoping she could calm both of them down, but the outcome was in serious doubt.

Finally, she sat Maria down on the couch from when they first started talking. This time, she sat down with her, only to make sure fists weren't flying between the married couple.

"Is that better?" she asked.

"A little bit," the wife replied, taking a deep breath. "Yes, I was nursing your Marco. But when I was playing some tunes on my guitar, things were different with him. He really liked my music, and, I don't know for sure, I think he really liked me too. So he kissed me in the lips."

"And you let that happen?"

"He caught me off guard. I promise you, he caught me off guard."

Comet rolled his eyes again.

"So that's why your husband was mad..."

"He was definitely that when he saw us. He even punched Marco in the face."

Star gasped once more. "Was he ok?"

"He was. He sure had worst after fighting those monsters, like you said."

"I still couldn't believe he did that, but it's definitely the Marco I know."

"Well, what he did was all for you. He confessed what he did to make us stop fighting. And then he headed out. This guy really loved you, and he didn't deny it."

Star was left speechless. Did Marco really confessed his feelings for her to strangers he got rescued by? It all sounded too good to be true. They were just friends, nothing more. But there were feelings for him, and she can't hide them no more. All their monster fights, adventurous quests, and fun moments they had got her more interested with him. And now with this confession, she caught feelings immediately.

She really liked Marco too.

All of a sudden, screams were heard from the distance. The screams of villagers running and the collapses of buildings tumbling down gave her and the married villagers discomfort. Not only that, the smell of burning houses began to mix in with the carnage. It was as if Star was using the wand for the first time.

"What the heck is going on now?" Comet questioned.


End file.
